Published: Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 4:02 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 4:02 p.m.

Superintendent of Schools George Tomyn has asked a state Department of Education team to come to Marion County in October to review the district's education practices.

Tomyn said it is just another step in the process to make sure Marion County Public Schools is doing everything it can for its students.

The news comes as the state released school grades for all the districts. Though Marion County's overall grade remained a “C” when compared with 2013, 19 of the county's 40 elementary and middle schools received a “D” or an “F” this year. Last year, 13 schools received a “D” or an “F.”

Tomyn said the team is from DOE's Office of School Improvement, adding it “will come in for three or four days.” Tomyn added that district officials will fill out questionnaires for the team to use during the evaluation.

He said the team will look at every department, from transportation and finance to classroom programs. He said the state will not make conclusions, only recommendations.

“This is a nonthreatening review and will be full of good input,” Tomyn said. “It will help identify the programs that are working well and the ones we need to improve upon.”

Rick Lankford, the deputy superintendent of curriculum, said the review process will be a very valuable tool.

“This is a good thing,” he said. “It could identify when we need to tweak a program or revamp one completely.”

Tomyn said the request is voluntary and is another one of the steps in improving education practices throughout the district.

The poor school grades are directly related to FCAT scores, which were released in the spring. This was the last year for the FCAT, as the state moves in 2015 to new Florida Standards assessments, which are more based on critical thinking skills.

After district students lost ground to the state average in 12 of 16 FCAT categories, Tomyn and his administrative team devised a six-step plan to improve state test scores.

His plan has been unveiled in stages throughout the summer. The steps include:

District program specialists are currently analyzing data.

The district has been surveying teachers participating in summer professional development or in-service training.

Tomyn held 30-minute individual meetings with most principals through June 26.

The district will hold seven feeder-school meetings. There are seven high schools, and each have six or so elementary and middle schools whose students feed into that high school.

The district will hold an education mini-conference later this summer for principals and assistant principals to learn ways to improve test scores.

Another step was set in motion last week, when the district invited 446 teachers to Forest High School for what it called teacher talks.

The teachers were chosen based on their students' good performance on test scores. Tomyn said 144 teachers, who were paid for their time, were there for round-table discussions about teaching techniques that helped boost scores.

Tomyn said the district used nonadministration facilitators to lead group discussions. Groups were divided up based on grade levels.

Tomyn said the teachers shared successful teaching practices and ideas. Officials conducted an exit poll of the attending teachers, almost all of whom believed the process was very valuable.

The district will take the information gleaned from the discussions and develop a plan to be shared with the School Board.

“I think it was a good idea to bring the teachers together like that,” said Carol Ely, a School Board member. “We definitely need to re-evaluate what we are doing.”

Conact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.

<p>Superintendent of Schools George Tomyn has asked a state Department of Education team to come to Marion County in October to review the district's education practices.</p><p>Tomyn said it is just another step in the process to make sure Marion County Public Schools is doing everything it can for its students.</p><p>The news comes as the state released school grades for all the districts. Though Marion County's overall grade remained a “C” when compared with 2013, 19 of the county's 40 elementary and middle schools received a “D” or an “F” this year. Last year, 13 schools received a “D” or an “F.”</p><p>Tomyn said the team is from DOE's Office of School Improvement, adding it “will come in for three or four days.” Tomyn added that district officials will fill out questionnaires for the team to use during the evaluation.</p><p>He said the team will look at every department, from transportation and finance to classroom programs. He said the state will not make conclusions, only recommendations.</p><p>“This is a nonthreatening review and will be full of good input,” Tomyn said. “It will help identify the programs that are working well and the ones we need to improve upon.”</p><p>Rick Lankford, the deputy superintendent of curriculum, said the review process will be a very valuable tool.</p><p>“This is a good thing,” he said. “It could identify when we need to tweak a program or revamp one completely.”</p><p>Tomyn said the request is voluntary and is another one of the steps in improving education practices throughout the district.</p><p>The poor school grades are directly related to FCAT scores, which were released in the spring. This was the last year for the FCAT, as the state moves in 2015 to new Florida Standards assessments, which are more based on critical thinking skills.</p><p>After district students lost ground to the state average in 12 of 16 FCAT categories, Tomyn and his administrative team devised a six-step plan to improve state test scores.</p><p>His plan has been unveiled in stages throughout the summer. The steps include:</p><p>District program specialists are currently analyzing data.</p><p>The district has been surveying teachers participating in summer professional development or in-service training.</p><p>Tomyn held 30-minute individual meetings with most principals through June 26.</p><p>The district will hold seven feeder-school meetings. There are seven high schools, and each have six or so elementary and middle schools whose students feed into that high school.</p><p>The district will hold an education mini-conference later this summer for principals and assistant principals to learn ways to improve test scores.</p><p>Another step was set in motion last week, when the district invited 446 teachers to Forest High School for what it called teacher talks.</p><p>The teachers were chosen based on their students' good performance on test scores. Tomyn said 144 teachers, who were paid for their time, were there for round-table discussions about teaching techniques that helped boost scores.</p><p>Tomyn said the district used nonadministration facilitators to lead group discussions. Groups were divided up based on grade levels.</p><p>Tomyn said the teachers shared successful teaching practices and ideas. Officials conducted an exit poll of the attending teachers, almost all of whom believed the process was very valuable.</p><p>The district will take the information gleaned from the discussions and develop a plan to be shared with the School Board.</p><p>“I think it was a good idea to bring the teachers together like that,” said Carol Ely, a School Board member. “We definitely need to re-evaluate what we are doing.”</p><p><i>Conact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.</i></p>